HR2475-119

What This Bill Does

The Youth Homelessness Guaranteed Income Pilot Program Act directs HHS to build a national database of homeless individuals, select up to 105,000 emancipated minors and 18-to-29-year-olds, and run a 36-month pilot. All participants can receive services such as housing navigation, financial coaching, workforce development, education support, landlord-tenant education, and McKinney-Vento assistance navigation. A randomized payment group receives monthly cash equal to the greater of $1,400 or adjusted fair market rent for a two-bedroom home in the participant's ZIP Code, with up to half allowed to take as many as the first 12 payments as a lump sum. The bill protects immigration-status and Social Security number data, bars using participation or payments against other benefit eligibility or public-charge determinations, excludes payments from gross income, creates misdemeanor penalties for improper disclosure or false access, requires an experimental study, and establishes a National Youth Economic Advisory Council.

Who Benefits and How

Homeless youth under age 30 benefit from housing navigation, financial coaching, workforce and education services, tenant-rights education, and McKinney-Vento assistance navigation. Payment-group participants benefit from 36 months of unrestricted cash equal to at least $1,400 per month or adjusted local two-bedroom fair market rent. Researchers and policymakers benefit from a randomized study on housing, economic, health, well-being, and social-cost effects of direct cash transfers. Youth homelessness service organizations benefit because the advisory council and database rules incorporate homeless-youth, civil-rights, LGBTQ, CDFI, and cash-transfer expertise.

Who Bears the Burden and How

HHS must create and verify a national homeless-individual database, protect sensitive data, select participants, administer services and payments, contract with an external research partner, and destroy the database after the council ends. Education, Agriculture, and HUD program administrators may have to require McKinney-Vento-funded recipients to identify homeless individuals and submit information for the database. Federal taxpayers bear the cost of monthly payments, wraparound services, advisory council compensation, external research, and administration. Recipients of federal homeless-assistance funds may face new identification and data-submission duties if agencies issue regulations.

Key Provisions

• Establishes a Youth Homelessness Guaranteed Income Pilot Program in HHS for up to 105,000 homeless emancipated minors and adults under age 30.
• Provides 36 months of services and randomizes participants into payment and nonpayment groups.
• Sets monthly payments at the greater of $1,400 or adjusted two-bedroom fair market rent, with limited lump-sum election.
• Protects pilot payments from income, benefit-eligibility, immigration public-charge, and certain federal public-benefit restrictions while creating study and advisory-council requirements.